The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris

The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris

As the Civil War draws to a close, Landry and Prentiss, brothers born into slavery, take refuge on the homestead of George and Isabelle Walker as they try and make their way north, seeking their mother, who had been sold years ago. When George stumbles across the boys, he hires them to help him install a crop of peanuts, hoping the work will numb the grief of the loss of his only child to the war. 

 

The forbidden romance of two Confederate soldiers also plays out in the town of Old Ox. The men meet in the woods and, when their secret is discovered, chaos ensues and culminates in murder. The repercussions are greater—for both of them—than either could have ever guessed.

 

In the aftermath of this grief and chaos, Isabelle is thrust to the forefront as the unlikely leader, whose strength results in a vision set to heal both the land and its citizens.

368 pages.

Only a Breath Apart by Katie McGarry

Only a Breath Apart by Katie McGarry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book releases January 22, 2019: Go pre-order a copy right now!

This book fronts as a YA contemporary romance, but it has this delicious undercurrent of magical realism that just takes my breath away.

It reminded me of being a kid, when I also felt so tied to the land that I haven’t set foot on again since I was about 13 years old. It’s funny the way the things that shape us as a child can suddenly seem so distant once you are 38. This story threw me back into the shell of an emotionally fragile teenager who fought through the challenges life served up in a far less graceful and mature fashion than Jesse and Scarlett. Granted, I didn't have the sort of mentors they had to help guide me on my way.

This story basically scratched me raw from the insides out, and I spent the better part of the story trying not to cry, not because it’s so painfully sad but because it hit home in so many ways that just left me feeling vulnerable and emotional.

Katie McGarry understands characters and relationship dynamics in a way that is so real and honest. She creates characters that I fall so hard in love with that it hurts just a bit when I have to admit to myself that they aren’t real. The writing is excellent. The plotting and pacing are spot on, and this story is gritty and aches in all the right and wrong kinds of ways. It ran me through the full emotional spectrum, and the end result is that it was such a satisfying read that I expect this story will cling to me, even after I have moved on to other books.

I will definitely reread this one, and while I received it free from Netgalley to review, I suspect I’ll pop on Audible and pre-order the audio, as this is a story I could reread again and again and likely take something a bit different away from it each time I revisit it.

Like the land, this story has life and breathes.

Book 7 read in 2019

Pages: 368

Truth North Series

Bittersweet by Sarina Bowen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this book, but it was very slow going for me. It took a little before I really got into it. Griffin and Audrey had first met in college. Than Audrey had to go to Vermont for work which is when she begin to hang out with Griffin again. I will move onto the next book, because I did like some side characters and I am hoping to get to hear their stories. 


View all my reviews

348 Pages

Book 2: Steadfast
I was excited to hear Jude's story. I was very curious to see what happened really that nigh. I didn't see the way the story was going to end. I was very shocked but still happy that it worked out for them. 

"Scrap Metal" by Harper Fox

Nichol Seacliff has spent the past year on the Scottish sheep farm where he grew up to help his grandfather keep it going.  It's just the two of them left in the family after his mother and older brother were killed in an accident out of the country.  Nichol had been at university working on his doctorate but dropped out to move back to the farm on the Isle of Arran.  It's been a hard adjustment, especially since Nichol and Harry do not get along.  One night, Nichol discovers a stranger in one of the barns, a starving young man who needs a place to hide from a gang in Glasgow.  Cameron Beale is so scared and desperate that he agrees to stay on and help for only room and board.  As Harry and Nichol work to turn the city boy into a decent farm hand, Cam and Nichol begin to have feelings beyond friendship but more tragedy and Cam's past may derail their future.

You know how it feels when you read an author for the first time and the writing is so good that you have to go back and reread parts of the book again?  That's what "Scrap Metal" was like for me.  I'd read praise for Harper Fox over the past several years, so when I saw that she had an e-book available for free, I was anxious to read it.  It surpassed all expectations!   She has a lyrical way with words that captures not only the emotional voices of the two main characters but also how it feels to live on an isolated sheep farm where failure is inevitable and near.  Lots of Gaelic phrases were mixed in along with their translations, which made this emotional story even more poignant.  The farm itself became another character, and there were lots of interactions with animals, too.  I can't wait to read more by this author.  Highly recommended.  258 pages (Kindle edition).

All creatures great and small

by James Herriot

This is a series of stories from a veterinarian's life in rural England in the early 1900s.

I really enjoyed this book, and found it very cozy and comforting. It's written in a way that lends itself to pacing it out and reading short sessions, but I found myself listening to it almost straight through.

Colorful characters and the author's love for the animals, people and countryside about which he writes made the stories rich, comforting and compelling to me.

audio: 16 hours
text: 442 pages

Now in November by Josephine Johnson

(Posted for Ann Roberts)

Continuing with my effort to read more Missouri authors, I checked out a book with great promise, as it gleaned a Pulitzer Prize in 1935 for 24-year-old Josephine Johnson, a Missouri native.  Johnson wrote the novel while living in her mother’s attic in Webster Groves.  Remarkable!  She also wrote poetry, short stories and eventually her memoir, which I would also like to read.  Now in November is the story of a poor family, struggling to make ends meet on mortgaged land during the Depression and a great drought. Compared to Ethan Frome and The Grapes of Wrath, Johnson is able to evoke the drudgery and hardship of the day-to-day struggle of farming during extreme drought and economic Depression.  The family consists of three daughters, mother and father, and the hired man, Grant, around whom much of the story unfolds.  The oldest of the three sisters, Kerrin, is mentally ill and tends toward anger and violence and becomes increasingly erratic in her behavior as Grant does not return her affections. Margret, the middle child, and narrator of the story, loves the land, beauty in nature, and Grant, too, and Merle, the youngest is high spirited and oblivious to the fact that Grant fancies her.  The story unfolds, as they work side-by-side to plant and tend the crops and animals on the farm. Written in beautiful prose, Now in November should be recommended reading for all Missouri students of literature.  It is a tragic, yet hopeful story, beautifully written.  231 pages, hardcover